From Arena Lights to Spotlights
by IWillBeCountingStarz
Summary: Rachel is one of the top teenage equestrians in her area. Now, she is vying for top honors. Just at a point where everything is clicking into place, life takes a turn for Rachel. How will she handle it?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys, long time, no post. I just wanted to get something up. Sorry, I will no longer be updating my old stories. I'm not really into Twilight anymore. Not to mention, I haven't touched those stories in years. I'm in college now and I just don't have any interest or time for it. I will try to post as much as I can for this story though. I might accidentally post econ notes…. I take notes for econ with my computer so yeah…and sometimes I write instead of taking or while taking econ notes. Clearly I multitask during econ. *Its so boring* This is the first chapter (clearly) but I have the 2****nd**** chapter in the works right now. I'll try to get that up soon! It's hard to say when though because exams are soon.**

Rachel led her horse, Wicked, through the barn to go outside to the arena. There is something that most people don't know about Rachel. Sure, most people know about her many classes for dance and voice. But, very few people know about her having riding lessons. She has been riding about as long as she has been singing. She competes in hunters, jumpers, and equitation as often as she can. She is one of the leaders in zone points for zone 5.

She led Wicked up to the mounting block outside of the large arena filled with jumps. She pulled down her stirrups and then lifted herself up and settled into her CWD saddle. She warmed up and was ready to begin her lesson. This lesson was vital, because she has a show coming up this coming weekend. She wanted to qualify for this year's Maclay Finals. She didn't quite qualify for this year's Maclay that is being held next week. This year her, her fathers, and her trainer have come up with a plan for her to be able to compete to qualify for Maclay and possibly USET Finals. Both Maclay and USET are equitation based finals.

Rachel has three horses that she owns and currently competes on. She has Wicked for equitation, yes he is named after the musical. She has Awolnation, or Sail, for show jumping. Then, she has Spring Awakening, or Wendla, for hunters.

Each of the horses were imported from Europe after she tried them. Wicked is a black Dutch Warmblood. Awolnation is a grey Hanovarian. Then, Spring Awakening is a bay Oldenburg.

Rachel also still owns her childhood ponies. Broadway Baby was her first and leadline pony from when she was three. She showed Hakuna Matata, or Pumba, in short stirrup. She competed Lion King, or Simba, in the small ponies. She showed West Side Story, or Tony, in the medium ponies. Then she competed on Broadway in the large ponies. All the while she showed StarKid in the pony jumpers.

All of the horses and ponies are still owned by her even though she doesn't ride the ponies much anymore. She leases them out so that they can teach other little girls how to ride.

Rachel's walls are basically lined with ribbons, champion coolers, etc from her shows, along with her playbills and Broadway posters.

When Rachel was younger, more of her life was devoted to riding. As she grew up, less time was available for her to ride. She used to have a show every weekend when she was younger. Now she was lucky to have one every other. Riding started out as a hobby when she was three. She started in the leadline and then it seemed like she quickly made her way through the divisions on the local levels. Since she started showing on the "A" circuit when she started in the small ponies, her parents took her out of school for at least two weeks, if not more, so that she could compete at the Winter Equestrian Festival, or WEF, in Florida.

When Rachel moved to the "A" Circuit she became too good for the barns that she had been riding at. There were no more barns in the area that were capable to teach her more and to allow her to compete at the level she wanted. Her dads ended up building this farm. They wanted their daughter to excel in the world. So they pushed her to explore her talents. They nurtured her love of the equestrian sports as much as they did her singing and dancing.

When it came to building the farm, they bought acreage on the edge of Lima's city limits so that they could build up this farm. They built a large barn that was originally for about 15 horses. Soon, they had many people wanting to board their horses at Pembrook Stables. Especially after they hired the current trainer, Holly Holiday, who had riders coming home with top ribbons from every show. Now, with the popularity of the stables, they have had to build more barns and amenities on the farm. Now they have about sixty stalls in total on the farm. The main barn has an attached indoor arena, then they have two large outdoor arenas that are able to be used as show facilities, and then a turf arena.

"Rachel! That last jump was horrible! Fix your striding and do it again!" Holly said. Rachel turned Wicked and adjusted his canter and pointed him to the jump again. This time the jump was pretty much picture perfect. "Better." Holly told her. "Okay, you're done for tonight. Cool him out and I'll see you tomorrow after your glee rehearsal." With that being said, Holly walked off and into the barn. Rachel guided Wicked to walk along the rail and to stretch out his neck.

While Wicked was calmly walking along the arena fence, Rachel noticed her dads near the end. She guided Wicked over to them. "Hey sweetie." Her dads greeted her. "Hi." She greeted back. "Rachel, we have to go to a conference for my work." Leroy told her. "Oh, where is this one?" "Florida. We have to leave tonight." "Oh, okay. Are you guys going to be back in time for the show?" She asked. "We should be." Hiram told her. "You know the rules, Honey." Leroy told her. She nodded. "Bye, have a good flight!" She said to their retreating backs.

For some reason, things didn't feel right with this. A bad feeling stayed with Rachel.

After a few more laps, Wicked was cooled down. Rachel dismounted, ran up her stirrups, and brought him into the barn. As she walked in, one of her favorite grooms came over to take Wicked. "Thanks Ben!" "It's all good Rach. You know Wicked is one of my favorites."  
"Yeah, you're one of the few people he actually likes other than me." She replied. It was well known in the barn that Wicked liked a select few and only those few could do anything with him.

"I'll see you later Ben, I have to get ready to go!" She waved as she walked off towards the tack room. She quickly entered and changed from her field boots into her sperrys. She put her boots, helmet, and gloves in her locker and shut the door. Going out to the parking lot she saw her driver, Max, waiting for her by her Range Rover. She threw her bag into the back of the car then climbed into the backseat for the ride home. Her dads had a driver for her since they couldn't drive her to her many activities all the time. Plus she couldn't drive herself with her being 14. She couldn't wait until she could drive herself. Max pulled into her driveway twenty minutes later.

"Thanks Max! See you tomorrow!" She called as she got out of the SUV once it was parked in the garage. The main thing Rachel wanted at this moment was a nice warm bubble bath to soothe her aching muscles.

An hour later, after she had gotten dressed and eaten, she was curled up on the living room couch watching Funny Girl when she heard a knock on the door. She got up to answer the door. "Uh Holly.. why are you here?" She asked. "Rachel, honey, you need to sit down." Holly told her. "No, answer my question! You're making me nervous!" Rachel noticed the sad, pitiful look that Holly had on her face. Holly grabbed her arm and led her back over to the couch.  
"Rachel, your dads…well.. Honey, their plane crashed.."  
"What?" Rachel asked in disbelief. "No. No, no, no, no! You're making this up! This is just some sick joke!"  
"Honey, I have never lied to you. I would never lie to you. It was reported on the news. Honey, there were no survivors."  
With that, Rachel collapsed to the floor and started bawling. Holly moved from the couch to the floor and pulled the crying teen into her lap. "We'll figure things out Diva." Holly said, using the nickname she had called Rachel when she was in her pony days.  
Rachel just cried herself to sleep in Holly's lap.


	2. Here's mom

Twenty four hours have passed.  
A whole day has passed since being told that the plane crashed.  
My dads are gone.  
They are really gone.

Her fathers' lawyer was in the process of getting a hold of her mother who had been out of town for the week. Rachel thought about her mom. She grew up knowing her mom but, for the most part, didn't spend as much time with her as she did her dads. Her mom would show up to her dance competitions, glee competitions, and the occasional horse show to support her. Then she would spend a weekend or holiday at her mom's house. She never doubted that Shelby loved her. She just had wished that she could have spent more time with her. Her mom, Shelby Corcoran, was one of her idols. Shelby has a great singing voice and Rachel wished she was one of Shelby's students, instead of being Mr. Shue's student. Shelby is one of the top show choir coaches in the nation, which is a reason that she is out of town this week, and could teach her so much more.  
_My dads have just died and I'm thinking that I wished I could spend more time with mom. Oh my god, I'm a horrible person. _Rachel thought. Rachel was brought out of her thoughts when her phone rang, making her jump from the sudden noise. She hurriedly grabbed the phone. Anything to get her to think about anything else at all was good in her book.

"Hello?" She asked. She hadn't bothered to check the caller ID before she answered the call.  
"Rachel, honey, I'm on my way as we speak." Her mother, Shelby, said right away.  
Rachel broke down again. "Mommy." She cried into the phone.  
"I'll be there within the hour, Honey." Shelby tried to reassure the devastated girl. "I'll stay on the phone with you until I get there."  
"Okay." Rachel managed to get out. She desperately wanted her mother. Rachel could hear her mom driving in her car. "Mom?" She asked.  
"Yes Boo?"  
"Where are you?"  
"I'm just on the other side of Lima, honey. It won't be long now."  
"Okay." She sniffed.

"Rachel?" Shelby asked as if something had occurred to her.  
"Yes?" Rachel wondered. She had no idea what her mom was going to say.  
"Please tell me that you have stayed away from sharp objects."  
"Yeah." Rachel replied too quickly.  
"Shit." She thought. Her mom knew about the cutting.

**(Shelby POV)**

Once Rachel answered so quickly to that question Shelby gunned her Range Rover even faster. She knew Rachel had developed a cutting problem. Why she had developed the problem, nobody knew but Rachel. Rachel's fathers had thought it had gone away. She, on the other hand, had been pretty sure that Rachel had just gotten better at hiding it.

**(Rachel POV)**

"Rachel, how about you get changed into something to go out in. I'm taking you to get something to eat." Her mom said to her.  
"I don't want to go." She replied to her mother. "I don't want to eat."  
"Rachel it wasn't a suggestion. You are going to eat. Go change, I am almost there." Her mom told her.  
Rachel let loose a sigh before she got up. She figured she might as well listen to her mother at this point. No need to piss off her mom and make her own life any worse by having angered Shelby. "Okay. I'm going." She knew what her mom was like mad. Just because she lived with her dads doesn't mean she doesn't know what her mom was like when she was angry. Her mom's punishments for her were much worse than those her dads gave her. She knew her mom's students feared her mom and the punishments that she could deal out at school, hell, even the New Directions feared Coach Corcoran.

**(Shelby POV)**

By now Shelby was on the road that the house was on. She quickly pulled into the long driveway. Foregoing grabbing anything other than her keys and phone, she ran into the house. The first person she saw was Holly sitting in the living room.

"Holly, how bad is she?" She asked the woman.

"Honestly? Well she is either sobbing or hiding behind a perfected showface. The times where she has the showface on scares me the most." The blonde replied. "I'd actually prefer the sobbing, at least I'd know what emotion was then."

"Holly, I know that she is cutting again. I need you to help me watch her. You know as well as I do that with all of the bullying that she endures plus this, she'll most likely be at her breaking point." Shelby honestly didn't think Rachel knew of healthy coping methods. It scares her to think that Rachel was purposefully mutilating herself just to escape her pain. Rachel will hide behind her show face. Something that she has perfected over the years due to riding, dancing, and acting. She can make most people believe that she is perfectly fine, even when she is falling apart at the seams.

"Of course I'll help you." Holly replied.

"Thank you." She gratefully said.

"Shelby, you guys have basically been my family for six years. Of course I'd help you watch her. I consider her my niece for all intents and purposes."  
Shelby nodded in understanding.

"I'm going to take Rachel out to eat. Would you like to come with us?" Shelby asked.

"No, thank you. I'm glad you're here to make her eat. She downright refused to eat with me. I tried everything I could think of to make her eat. Maybe it just takes her mother to make her in this situation. You need to spend time with Diva and I need to make sure that the barn is still standing and that Wicked hasn't led a revolt." Holly replied to her, joking at the end.

Shelby chuckled a little at that. She knew of Wicked's aversion to most people. "Okay, good luck with him, and I'll let you know about the things that happen on this end. We'll most likely be at the barn in the morning. You know that Boo isn't going to miss riding, no matter how much I want her to take a short break." The blonde nodded.

"She's so determined. I wouldn't be surprised if she was dying, that she'd still be forcing herself through a lesson. Even if it is a no stirrups lesson, and you know she hates those." They both laughed lightly.

"Yeah, I do. Normally you threaten her with tack cleaning if she whines." Shelby replied.

With that, Holly left.

Shelby started up the stairs to find Rachel. She found the girl in her room, laying on her bed. Rachel had clearly recently gotten out of the shower because she was only wrapped in a towel and the hair was still dripping.

"Oh, honey." Shelby cooed as she rushed forward to hold Rachel. Rachel was crying again. Shelby sat on the bed and pulled the young teen into her lap as if Rachel was a baby.

**(Rachel POV)**

Rachel didn't really mind that her mom was holding her this way. If anything, it made her feel a little better. It made her feel loved. She was being held by her mom and that was all that mattered to her. Her mom held her as she cried for the better part of an hour.

"You feel better?" Her mom questioned her as she had calmed down. She nodded quietly. "I'm going to go get dressed." She told her mother as she got up to go in her walk in closet. She grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of sweats that have the barn logo and a matching jacket.

"You look comfy." Her mom commented when she came back out.

"Yeah. I figured that I might as well be comfortable." She said as she flopped down into the older woman's lap, causing Shelby to let out a small "oof." The older woman started braiding her wet hair and gave her a quick hug before pushing her back up.

"Come on, Boo, let's go." Shelby said while getting up.

Rachel grabbed her phone from her nightstand, where it was charging, before following her mother downstairs. As she got to the stairs, a photo hanging on the wall caught her eye. It was when she had won the THIS Finals two years ago. In the picture, she was mounted on Wicked and was smiling big, looking at the blue ribbon on Wicked's bridle. Standing around her and Wicked are her fathers, her mother, and Holly. Everyone was smiling and looked so happy. It was hard to believe that, that moment would never happen again.

"Rachel?" Her mom called up to her.

"Coming!" She called back, startled out of her thoughts. She started down the stairs again. She saw her mom waiting by the front door.

"You alright?" Her mom asked while looking at her, concerned.

Rachel bit back the many sarcastic comments she could have used and just nodded. She climbed into her mom's SUV and buckled up. As her mom started the car, the radio turned on. It was currently playing Counting Stars by OneRepublic which is one of her favorite songs at the moment.  
"Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep. Dreaming about the things we could be." Rachel sang almost automatically. She continued singing the entire song.

After about five more songs, they reached the restaurant. Her mom had chosen Chili's. Her mom was clearly pulling out all of the stops, trying to make her happier. A hostess quickly seated them in a booth. It wasn't long before a waitress took their drink orders and left them to decide on their food.

"What are you having, Boo?"

"Big Mouth Bites." She easily replied. "What about you?"

"I'm thinking the Grilled Chicken Salad."

Soon enough, the waitress came back for their orders and then left them alone after giving them their drinks.

"Mom?" Rachel asked after they had sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Yeah Boo?" Shelby replied once she had looked up from the ad she had been reading.

"What is going to happen to me now?" She questioned. "Am I going to live with you?"

"Yes, you will be moving in with me. You will actually be a lot closer to the barn that way. But, it also means that you'll no longer be in the McKinley district. You'll have to go to Carmel. I know that it is a lot to deal with at one time, Boo, but I promise that things will get better." Her mom told her with a sympathetic look on her face.

"It might be better for me at Carmel." Rachel mused. She looked at her mom. "You know how I've been bullied?" She asked. Shelby nodded. "Um, I haven't exactly been truthful about how bad it is. It's actually worse than what I've told you." Rachel wasn't able to look at her mom at this point. Afraid for her mom to see her as the unwanted nobody that everyone at school treated her as.

"Baby, what do you mean?" Her mom asked, clearly upset. "How much worse is it?"

"You already know that I'm called all kinds of names. But, even that is nothing compared to other things. Like, getting pushed all the time. I still have a bruise on my arm from the last time." Rachel pulled one half of her jacket off to show the large, painful bruise on her arm. She quickly pulled the side of the jacket back on.  
"Then there is the slushie facials. Those hurt. The football players and the Cherrios always throw them in my face. There is Jacob who tries to blackmail me into kissing or dating him. Then when I'm in glee and everyone is going off on me for getting a solo or the fact that I have no extra free time because of riding, dance, and theatre, Mr. Shue doesn't do anything to stop it. Most of the time he joins in. He gets mad at me for not dedicating more of my life to glee. Then at times, they accuse me of telling you things that the New Directions are doing. Even Mr. Shue does. They found out that you are the coach of the Carmel glee club and now every time they know I'm going to see you they say I'm helping you plot against them." Rachel finished.

"Well that settles it, if you weren't already going to be transferred to Carmel, you would be pulled from McKinley and put into Carmel in a heartbeat after what you just told me. It's clearly not safe for you there. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because sometimes I feel like they are right. I am an unwanted nobody. Nobody likes me mommy." Rachel whispered.

Shelby reached over and put her hand on Rachel's, rubbing, anything to comfort her.

"I will take care of the transfer first thing in the morning." Shelby said resolutely. Along with withdrawing Rachel from the school, she was planning on calling the school board about the bullying that the school tolerates and from what it seems, encourages with the students.

"Mom, can I join VA?" Rachel asked almost timidly.

"Of course! I'd love for you to be in Vocal Adrenaline. Ever since sectionals the group has been trying to get me to get you to move there. They absolutely loved your singing." Shelby gushed, clearly excited at her interest in joining the show choir. "We may have to adjust some things around for you to ride and do VA but we'll work it all out."

"Mom, just so you know…the New Directions will most likely come after me for transferring to Carmel. Then they will absolutely come after me for joining VA."

"What do you mean, "Come after you?" Her mom asked.

"They like to go after those who they believe have jumped ship. So they're going to try to ruin my life however way they possibly can."

Their waitress arrived with the food, interrupting the tense moment. Rachel was getting nervous for how her mom would react to this news. Shelby was getting angry that these pathetic kids thought that they were going to get back at her daughter.

Once the waitress left Shelby spoke.

"Well Honey, things are about to get very hard for them to do that." Rachel noticed the angry glint in her mother's eyes even as the woman spoke in a perfectly calm tone. That concerned Rachel the most. Her mom is scary when she is mad but is seemingly calm. She was left wondering what her mother was going to do.

They ate their dinner, for the rest of the time, with comfortable chit chat. Talking about everything from Broadway shows to Rachel's horse show that was coming up, which they were deciding to wait a week before going to.

After they finished, Shelby quickly paid for the meal and they got back in the Range Rover. Rachel slumped into the seat, exhausted. It had been a long, emotional day. Actually, it's been a few long emotional days. She fell asleep after they had been on the road for only five minutes.

Once they got back to the house, Shelby picked up Rachel and tucked the child into bed.

Rachel started to whimper as Shelby pulled her arms away from her. The girl was still very much asleep, but needed the contact.

"Mommy! Please, don't leave me as well! Both daddies left me. I can't take anyone else leaving me." Rachel cried in her sleep.

Shelby felt her heart breaking for the child.

"I'll never leave you, Baby, never." She cooed to the sleeping girl as she cuddled with said sleeping girl. It wasn't long before Shelby had fallen asleep as well.

Rachel woke up around 10 the next morning. She looked next to her and happily noticed that her mom was curled up on her bed with her. She got up, carefully, out of bed and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

She decided to hop into the shower. She quickly washed her hair before washing her body. She glanced at her razor. "Can I do it without mom noticing?" She thought. She grabbed it and quickly made a cut on her thigh, the only place she could at this time. After staring at the blood for a while she washed it off and got out.

After bandaging her leg, she pulled on some breeches, a black belt, a teal polo shirt, and a pair of light blue plaid zocks. After getting dressed, she dried her hair but, didn't do anything with it due to having to put it into a hairnet and helmet later.

Her mom wasn't in the bedroom when she got out. She walked downstairs and before going to the kitchen to get breakfast, she went to the backdoor to let in her dogs. The first one to come in is Cobalt, her German Shepard. Next was Melchior, her Golden Retriever. The dogs quickly bounded into the kitchen and she promptly heard her mother exclaim, "Puppies!" She rolled her eyes at her mom's reaction to the dogs. Her mom loved her dogs. So sometimes when she would spend the weekend at Shelby's, the dogs would come as well. Her mother spoiled them rotten. She would even get them presents for their birthdays and holidays. Her mom basically considered them, and the horses, her grandchildren.

She walked into the kitchen to see her mom slipping the two excited dogs some bacon and sausage. She rolled her eyes.

"Ha! They'll never leave your side now!" Rachel commented as she walked up to her mom at the kitchen island.

"That is completely fine with me." Shelby replied. "Hey baby." She said before kissing Rachel on the cheek.

"Morning Momma." Rachel replied before sitting down at the kitchen table where her breakfast was waiting. Her mom soon joined her with her coffee and the morning paper. While eating, Rachel started flipping through a Dover Saddlery catalog that was left lying on the table after someone had checked the mail. While browsing through the catalog, she ate about half the plate before attempting to leave the table.

"Nuh uh. If you are going riding then you need to eat more than that." Shelby admonished.

"But Momma!" Rachel exclaimed. "I'm not hungry anymore." She pouted.

"At least eat a little bit more." Shelby said with finality while getting up. She left Rachel in the kitchen.

After her mother left the room, Rachel sat and pouted about eating any more food. Then she noticed the dogs begging at her feet under the table. She smiled. Her mom didn't think about them. She knocked a good portion onto the floor for them. The dogs started to happily scarf down the food. Rachel only hoped that they did before her mom came back into the room. The rest of the food, she dumped into the trash to make her mom think she ate some more. After putting her plate in the sink, she then went to the front closet to put on her Sperrys and to grab a coat. She grabbed her favorite, a StarKid SPACE Tour jacket. She loved the small company's musicals and had gone to see them when they had gone on tour. "Come on Momma!" She called.

"I'm coming!" Shelby called back. When Shelby reached Rachel she slipped on her jacket and walked out the door to start up the Range Rover, with Cobalt and Melchior following close behind. Knowing that the dogs weren't going to be ones to be left behind, she opened the back door for the two happy dogs to hop in. They didn't have to be told twice and hoped straight into the backseat. Rachel climbed into the passenger seat and quickly hooked up her ipod to the car stereo. She flipped through her music until she got to the song "One Song Glory" from Rent.

"Are you in a Rent mood this morning?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah. I'm not in the mood for Wicked, or Spring Awakening, and most of StarKid's songs are just not right for me today." She replied. Her mom knew about StarKid and has even seen a few of the online musicals.

"Yeah, songs like "It's Not Over Yet" and "No One Remembers Achmed" just don't scream like it's a morning jam does it?" Shelby jokingly asked, referring to songs from two of StarKid's musicals, A Very Potter Sequel and Twisted.

Rachel rolled her eyes and started singing the song while watching the outside world be passed by. "One song, glory, one song, before I wake."

Soon enough Rachel saw the familiar white pasture fencing that enclosed the pastures surrounding the barn's property. Some horses were out grazing in the fields. Some were being ridden out in the turf arena. No matter how many times Rachel saw this, she never got tired of it.

Shelby turned onto the long, smooth, paved driveway that lead up to the main facilities. She parked in the reserved spot that was just for her. One of the many perks of being the mom of Rachel.

Rachel hopped out of the SUV, eager to ride, and headed to the tack room to put on her boots, gloves, and helmet. She didn't have to tack up her horse because one of the grooms had done it before hand. Today she was going to ride Wendla, or Spring Awakening, her junior hunter. After she was done getting ready, she thanked the groom for getting Wendla ready, and lead the mare out to the ring to warm up. She noticed her mom sitting on the observation deck that was situated on a small hill, overlooking the arena. Her mom was loving on Cobalt and Melchior, of course, giving out many treats and belly rubs. She turned her attention back to Wendla. She quickly warmed up on the flat and then popped over a few warm up jumps before Holly came out to the ring.

"Okay Diva!" Holly called while walking to the center of the ring, "Let's try and see how your mother will handle you tackling this course. Outside line, the skinny across the diagonal to the oxer, to the bending line, the gate, and end with the brown vertical. Now remember, you are not on Sail, don't speed through it. This is hunters, make it look pretty and make it look like anyone could hop on Wendla and take her around this course." Holly reminded her.

"Okay." Rachel replied while starting to trot so she could being her entry circle. She smoothly transitioned Wendla into a canter and headed for the first part of the course. She headed to the first part of the course, the outside line. Wendla calmly jumped the jumps, while Rachel prepared her for the next one.

It seemed like the course was going great. That is until they heard a car barreling up the drive, blasting music as loud as could be, right by the arena as Rachel was approaching the last fence. Wendla spooked at the sudden appearance of the car and the noise emitting from it, throwing Rachel into the fence. Rachel's body, after completely knocking the fence down, landed with a thud in the sand.

* * *

AN: Sorry it has taken me so long to update this. I had exams and then had to move back home for the summer. Then next week I leave for vacation. Part of what takes me so long is that I try to get each chapter to at least a certain length before I post I will try to post a new chapter next week but I have no guarantees with that because out beach house has pretty crappy wifi connections. For some reason my laptop won't connect but everyone else's will. So if not then I might have two chapter updates the next week.  
By the way, with the story, don't say that no one would react that way to their parents dying. Because that is exactly how I reacted when my mother died a little over a year ago. I cried, avoided eating, avoided most people and when I wanted to be with people it was only a certain few. I didn't want my dad, not my sister, I wanted a few of my cousins and one of my aunts, and my riding instructor. Thats it.


	3. Chapter 3

Shelby saw Rachel's body fly through the air and then crash through the jump. She quickly ran down to her fallen daughter. She and Holly surrounded Rachel on the ground. Luckily a groom, who had been nearby and saw the whole thing, had caught Wendla so that they could focus their attention on Rachel.

"Rachel. Rachel, Honey, wake up." Shelby tapped her daughter's cheeks lightly.

"Diva, wake up." Holly said.

Rachel started to wake up. First her eyes started to twitch. Along with her fingers. Slowly, her eyes opened. She started to go to sit up but immediately grabbed her head in pain, laying back into the dirt.

"Hold on Honey, give yourself a minute before you get up." Her mom told her.

"Mommy, my head hurts." She complained with tears running down her face.

Both Shelby and Holly looked at Rachel's helmet, which was still on the young girl's head. It had a large dent in it. They looked at the girl, concerned.

"You can get up, but slowly." Her mom finally allowed her to get up out of the dirt. Rachel took of the damaged helmet. "Holly, I am going to take her to the ER to get her head checked out and to make sure the rest of her is okay as well. Can you help me get her to the car?"

"Sure." The blond replied.

They both led the young teen to Shelby's Range Rover. They helped Rachel into the back seat so that she could lay down before carefully buckling the girl's seatbelt and closing the door softly. Both women turned when they heard yelling coming from the other side of the parking lot. The yelling was being directed towards the car that had been the cause of Rachel's fall. Apparently the car had caused some issues with some of the boarders as well.

"Rachel, we'll be right back." Holly said through the open car window.

Holly and Shelby walked over to the commotion. Once they got up close to the car, Shelby recognized the teen in the driver's seat. It was one of her Vocal Adrenaline students. In fact, the only VA student who didn't want Rachel on the team. It was Giselle. The girl was worried that Rachel would take away her lead status. Shelby had to admit, the girl was right. Rachel was better than Giselle and could easily take away Giselle's lead status.

"Giselle, what the hell were you thinking driving up the driveway that fast and blaring music that loud?! There are signs saying "Slow" all the way up the drive. Do you think they are there to look pretty?!" Shelby exclaimed. Just as Giselle was probably going to give a lame excuse, she cut back in. "You know what, I don't have time for this, thanks to you, I now need to go to the hospital to make sure Rachel is alright. And now we have a nervous horse" She said while pointing to a still anxious Wendla. She then turned to Holly, "Will you take care of this?" She asked the blond.

"Most definitely." The blond easily replied with a scary look on her face.

Shelby ran back to her SUV and hopped into the front seat. After looking back at Rachel, she backed out of her parking spot and headed down the drive.

"Mommy, I think I'm gonna be sick." Rachel whimpered pitifully.

Shelby pulled over, got out of the car and opened the back door to help Rachel lean out to puke. After the small teen was done she got back in. This time, speeding just a little bit more than what she had been. She was wracking her head for medical knowledge and knew that nausea with a head injury was not good.

Rachel couldn't understand why the Range Rover was so loud. It had never seemed this loud before. Granted, she knew it was her headache that made it seem louder than normal. She whimpered from where she lay in the seat.

"Mommy are we there yet?" She asked.  
"Sorry Boo, not quite. Only a few more miles, you'll be okay. Don't worry, you will be okay." She knew her mom was trying to reassure her. It would be working, that is, if the room would stop spinning. The only thing she could focus on, other than her pain, is her sleepiness.

"Momma, I'm gonna sleep now." She told her mom.  
"No Rachel, stay awake. Stay awake for me."  
Rachel started to say something back but she blacked out before she could.

"Rachel! Rachel, wake up for mommy, please!" Shelby yelled. She pulled into the Emergency Room entrance and quickly ran inside. "Help me! My daughter was thrown from her horse and was knocked out. Since then, she has woken up, gotten sick, and now passed out again!"

Some ER staff grabbed a gurney and followed her to Rachel. They loaded her on the moving bed, and brought her inside, straight to the back. Shelby moved her car and ran back inside to be with her daughter.

"Hey, isn't that Dr. Berry's daughter?" She heard someone ask.  
"Yeah, poor girl. Loses her fathers one day and then gets hurt two days later. The kid just can't catch a break." Another person replied.  
"At least she still has her mom." A third person came in. "I'd hate for that poor girl to have to be a ward of the state." They continued.

During that time, she had been filling out the information that the hospital wanted about Rachel. Of course the typical stuff like name, address, medical insurance. Shelby quickly handed that back to the triage nurse who then took her back with Rachel. She started to brush the girl's hair back from her face, carefully avoiding the ice pack that was fixed to the girl's head.

A few minutes later, the doctor came in.

"Hello, I am Dr. Li. You must be Rachel's mom?" He asked.

"Yes, I am." She replied while shaking the man's offered hand.

"Well, Rachel has suffered a concussion and we also found that she has some bruised ribs. You said she was thrown from a horse, right?" He asked.

"Yes, her horse spooked and sent her flying and she crashed through a jump on the way down. Her helmet looks like it has taken most of the beating though." She offered the dented helmet, which she had brought in, for the man to look at.

"Thank goodness she was wearing one. Judging by how much damage was done to this, she is lucky that this is only a concussion." He said, clearly amazed. "I want to keep her overnight for observation. She may be able to go home in the morning. As of right now, we have to keep icepacks on her head. It'll make her head feel a little bit better. We also have her on a drip with anti-nausea medicine."

"Okay, thanks. If you will excuse me, I need to go make a few calls, will you have someone let her know that I will be right back if she wakes up?"

"Of course. I will let the nursing staff know. Someone will be here in a few about having her admitted overnight." With that he left the room.

Shelby kissed Rachel's forehead before leaving the room. She pulled out her phone and called Holly first.

"How is little Diva?" Holly answered.

"She has a concussion and bruised ribs, they want to admit her overnight for observation."

"Poor Diva." The blond mused. "I will take care of the dogs overnight for you so you don't have to worry about that. I will bring them home tomorrow afternoon. I figure a few hours at home without the barking dogs might be good for Rachel to get some sleep."

"Thanks that would be great."

"Which house are you going to go to?"

"I'm going to take her to mine. Less things to remind her of her dads on top of this."

"I will let you get back to Diva. Give her a kiss for me. Bye"

"Bye." Shelby replied, hanging up.

Sighing, Shelby dialed another number.

"Hello, Corcoran residence." A woman answered.

"Mom, its Shelby."

"Oh, Honey, what a surprise to hear from you. How are you?" The elder woman asked.

"Stressed out. Rachel's fathers passed away in a plane crash the day before yesterday, I now have full custody of Boo, and now she is being admitted to the hospital overnight because she was thrown from her horse and now has a concussion."

"Oh my poor grandbaby! Your father and I will be in Lima as soon as we can, okay?"

"Okay momma. Bye."

"Bye Honey." The other line was hung up.

Dialing the phone for the third time, Shelby called Carmel.

"Carmel High School." The receptionist answered.

"Hi Liz, this is Shelby Corcoran."

"Hey Shelby, What can I do for you?"

"I will be taking another day off tomorrow. Rachel is currently in the hospital and I will need to be with her tomorrow." She explained. Luckily, from the times Rachel has visited her at Carmel, she knew Liz. Liz, overtime, became like an aunt to the girl.

"Okay, I will get that straightened out for you." Liz said. "Do you need anything else Shelby?"

"Yes actually, could you get the papers sorted out for me to enroll Rachel in Carmel? I'm pulling her out of McKinley."

"I will get on that straight away."

"Thanks Liz."

"No problem Shelby, give Rach my love." They both hung up.

Shelby walked back into Rachel's room and sat down in a chair by the bed. She rubbed her thumb over the back of Rachel's hand. If anything, to remind herself that Rachel was right there with her. About an hour later, a few hospital staff moved Rachel to a room on the pediatric floor. A few minutes after being moved, Rachel started to wake up.

"Momma?" Rachel called for her mom drowsily and opened her eyes and looked around the room, confused.  
"I'm right here, Boo." Shelby brushed Rachel's hair back from her face.

It felt good having her mom running her fingers through her hair. Her mom was carefully avoiding the icepack that was still fixed to her head. It almost distracted her from the fact that she was still in the hospital. Almost.

"Momma, when can I go home, I want to go home." She asked, hoping that she could go home right away. She didn't care which house it was. Her dad's or her mom's. As long as it wasn't the hospital.

"The doctors want you to stay overnight to observe you to make sure you are alright. If they say you can go home in the morning, then you will, not a minute sooner." Shelby replied firmly while raising her eyebrow to show Rachel that she was serious; knowing that her daughter would try to get her to take her home early.

"I hate hospitals!" Rachel cried miserably. Ever since she was little, she hated hospitals, even though her dad worked in one. She especially hated needles and IVs and it was taking all of her willpower to not yank out the one that was in her right arm.

Her mom didn't say anything to answer her cry, she just hugged her.

Shelby's phone started to ring. Her ringtone was the song, Seasons of Love from RENT, courtesy of Rachel. Her mom looked at the caller id before picking up.

"Hey dad." Shelby answered. "Yes, she just woke up. How far are you?" She paused to listen. "Since you are near my house, could you and mom pick up some stuff for me and Rach? Could you get her blanket, ipod, and then clothes for the both of us? Okay, thanks dad, see you in a few." Rachel watch Shelby put up her phone.

"Your grandparents are close by, they are picking up some stuff for us from my house. Then I'm thinking that if you get to go home tomorrow, how about we all go to the lake house? It will be calmer there. It will be less likely for one of my students or someone else to wake you by visiting and Cobalt and Melchior can have fun outside. Maybe I'll get your grandparents to take them for a hike in the woods"

"Okay Momma, that sounds good." Truth be told, Rachel loved being at the lake house. It was her favorite of the houses. Large, airy, calming, not to mention she loved boating. Granted, she knew she wouldn't be getting on any of the boats when they went this time. Even if she wanted to, she knew that her mom would not let her.

"Momma I'm sleepy." She yawned.

"Okay Boo, go ahead and sleep. I will be right here when you wake up."

Rachel snuggled into her pillows and blankets and fell asleep in no time at all.

Rachel slept for a few hours and by the time she woke up, her grandparents had arrived and made themselves comfortable by her bedside with Shelby. The first thing she felt was her soft, fuzzy blanket that she always kept at her mom's house. It had running horses on it. She always cuddled up with it when she was at her mom's. It was a staple on her bed there. Her mom had bought it for her when she was a lot younger and she honestly loved it.

She could hear her mom and grandparents talking and wanted to know what they were talking about, so she stayed laying on her side, the side with the non-bruised ribs, and listened into the conversation that was being had.

"My poor child just can't get a break. First the bullying at school, her dads and now this. I hope nothing else bad happens. I just want to see her happy." Shelby told her parents.

"Shelby, things will be better for both you and Rachel. You just have to let time help. Time will heal the wounds of the bullying and the passing of her fathers, a therapist might help her as well. You've already made a good start by pulling her out of McKinley and transferring her to Carmel." Her grandmother, Kate, told Shelby. "Plus isn't there a thing about bad things happening in threes? That was three things."

"Shelby, I agree with your mother, you just have to see what the future brings you. Maybe as time goes on, things will be better than they were before." Said her grandfather, David. "Plus, by having her go to Carmel you will get to see her more. Plus, wouldn't she join Vocal Adrenaline?"

"I guess you're right about waiting to see what the future brings. Maybe things will get better. Yes, she has mentioned wanting to join VA. Apparently all she gets in the New Directions is grief for all of her other commitments because she doesn't have much more spare time for the glee club. Even her teacher joins in on the bullying. Most of my VA students want Rachel on the team. Sadly it was one of my VA students who caused her horse to spook. She was speeding up the driveway next to the arena, blasting music. It just so happened to be the one student who doesn't want Rach on the team."

"Why doesn't she want Rachel on the team?" Kate asked. "Rachel is a great singer, wouldn't it only benefit the team more?"

"Giselle is the current female lead. She doesn't want Rachel on the team because she feels that Rachel would take her lead status. Honestly, Rachel could outsing her in her sleep. Rachel will most likely end up being my new female lead." Shelby confessed.

Rachel smiled at the confidence her mother had in her singing abilities. Her mom was never one to praise highly for her singing and that was just about the highest praise she had ever received from Shelby for her abilities.

"Honestly though, it won't be long until I am forced to take Giselle's lead status from her. I have wanted to kick her off of the team for a while. She has become a diva and I am tired of it. Not even Jesse, my male lead, is that bad. Yes, we may call Rachel, Diva, and really only Holly calls her that, but we know she doesn't act like one. That, and she knows that if she started to act like a diva she'd find herself in a hell of a lot of trouble."

Rachel was glad that she, for the most part, kept fairly humble. Sometimes she would slip and diva mannerisms would rear their ugly heads in her. She would have to make sure she never slipped near her mother though. She did not want to be in trouble with her mother.

By the time she tuned back into the conversation the topic had changed.

"I still need to get together with her fathers' attorney and discuss the will and funeral arrangements. Then deal with moving Rachel into my house, fully, then just try to deal with everything else." She heard her mother say.

"Weren't her fathers in a different state when the accident occurred?" Her grandmother asked.

"Yes, they were in the Carolinas when it happened. You might as well say it was both because it happened near the borders of the two."

"Shelby. We will help you in any way that we can. Your mother told your sisters the news as well and are planning to be here in the next few days." David said to his sad looking daughter.

"I told Rachel that we'd all go to the lake house so that she can get some rest. That way my students won't bother her by stopping by and making a lot of noise. It also has enough room for everyone to stay there as well." She told them.

"That sounds like a great place for her to get her needed rest, Honey." Kate mused.

"Could you guys possibly take Cobalt and Melchior on walks while we are there?" She asked.

"We would love to take them. You know we love them as well. By the way, who is taking care of them now?" David asked.

"Holly has them, she'll bring them to my house tomorrow. They had come to the barn with Rachel and I. So while I brought Rachel here, Holly was taking care of the barn, the girl who caused the accident, and the dogs."

"Oh, okay." He glanced over at Rachel's still form. He noticed that his granddaughter's breathing changed. It wasn't as deep as it had been when she was asleep. He pointed to Rachel to show Shelby and Kate that she wasn't asleep anymore. They both smirked. "Rachel, we know you are awake." He said, point blank.

She turned and looked at them.

"Grandpa! How did you know?!" Rachel was surprised that her grandpa knew.

"I will never reveal my secrets, Little One." Rachel rolled her eyes.

Shelby moved closer to the bed to brush Rachel's hair back. Rachel looked at her mom.

"How are you feeling, Baby?" Her mom asked, concerned.

"Sore. My head and ribs hurt…Mom…what is on my head?" She asked after a second realizing that something was on her head.

"They have an icepack fixed to your head. Which should probably be changed soon. It's been a while since they changed them out." Shelby mused.

"I don't feel anything cold on my head. So I guess so."

"They have wrapped your ribs to give you a bit more support. That way, once you start moving more, it might not hurt as much. You will still have to be careful."

Rachel nodded. "What time is it?"

"It is almost eleven." Her grandma replied. Rachel groaned.

"What is all the fuss for?" Her grandpa wanted to know.

"I want to go home." Rachel replied sadly. Her eyes were watering with tears from frustration, sadness, and pain.

"You may be able to go home in the morning. But like I said earlier, you will have to wait until the doctor says you can leave. You won't be leaving sooner than what he says." Her mom said while giving her the look that lets her know that she means it.

Rachel, with a pout, rolled onto her side to ignore them and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning Rachel woke up even more sore than she was the night before. Her muscles were all in knots from the fall. She groaned a bit.

"Rach, whats the matter?" Her mom asked.

"I'm just really sore Momma. Please tell me that you still have plenty of Icy Hot at the house. My muscles, and ribs hurt." She replied softly.

"I do have Icy Hot and plenty of icepacks. I'd be crazy if I didn't considering how sore you are after a no stirrup lesson or dance class. Sadly, it's not going to help you all that much with the ribs. You will have pain meds for those." Shelby told her.

As soon as her mom finished talking, the doctor walked into the room looking at a clipboard. "Okay Rachel. Let me check and see how you are doing and we'll see if we can get you out of this place." He looked at her ribs, asked her questions about the pain, gave her some pain medicine before giving her the okay to be released from the hospital. "Okay, Ms. Corcoran, if you'll follow me we can get the discharge papers done."

Shelby got up and followed him out of the room. David started to gather up all of their things to take out to the cars. Meanwhile, Kate was helping Rachel get into some sweats.

Before long, the papers were filled out, everything was loaded into the cars, everyone got into the cars and were headed to Shelby's house in Carmel. Holly was waiting in the driveway when they got there.

"Hey Diva." Holly lightly hugged the girl as said girl got out of the car.

"Hi Holly." She replied quietly.

"I know some boys who missed you." Holly said while walking over to her truck and opening the back door. Both Cobalt and Melchior hopped out of the truck to run over to Rachel. She immediately started petting her dogs. She had missed them so much.

"Thanks for taking care of them Holly." Shelby was grateful for the help from the woman.

"No problem. Those two were great. They even helped scare Giselle a bit." She informed Shelby with a smirk.

"Oh? How so?" Shelby questioned, clearly amused.

"Both clearly didn't like the girl. They might have started growling at her a bit. And then cornered her against her car." She told the woman. "I called them back and they acted like nothing had happened. Giselle was terrified of them both after that. But she doesn't need to know that they are both big softies." They both looked at the two dogs who were clearly excited but were being careful with Rachel and smiled.

"Boo, how about you take the dogs inside and go lay down. We won't head for the lake house for a few more hours. Your grandparents and I will pack."

"Can the dogs lay down in my bed?" She asked her mom.

"Yes, they can. Honestly, I don't think they would leave your side right now." Looking at the dogs, they look like they haven't seen Rachel in years. "Go on up. I'll be up in a few with the Icy Hot, your pain meds, and the icepack for your head."

"Okay. Cobalt, Melchior, come." She said before walking into the house. The dogs, not wanting to be left behind, were following closely behind on her heels.

"The lawyer for Hiram and Leroy is going to visit you at the lake house. He needs to speak to you and I figured that you'd be taking her there after all of this." Holly said.

"Thanks Holly. Yeah, I figured I'd get her away. Let her rest."

"I'm going to have to go. I have a group lesson scheduled in an hour. Let me know if you guys need anything." She got into her truck and left.

Shelby got some of Rachel's belongings out of the car and brought them into the house before getting the girl's medicine, Icy hot and an icepack, along with Rachel's favorite blanket. She then headed upstairs and down the hall for Rachel's room. "Okay honey, I got you some things to make you feel better." She said as she walked into the room where Rachel was curled up in bed with the dogs on either side of her. She gave Rachel her pain meds while she rubbed Icy Hot on the girl. Once she was done the tucked Rachel in using the horse blanket that she had bought for the girl years ago. "Okay Honey, while your grandparents and I pack, you take a nap and in a few hours we will leave for the lake house."

"Okay Momma." The girl slurred due to her pain meds kicking in. Shelby kissed the tired girl on the forehead before leaving the room. Rachel was asleep before she even turned off the light.

* * *

AN: I know in the last chapter I posted I said that i would have updated at least twice by now. Sadly, life got in the way. While on vacation I got injured. I strained muscles in my neck and bruised my ribs while tubing. Since then, life has been a little crazy. So, sorry I haven't posted. But at least this chapter is a little longer than normal. I honestly can't tell you when I will post again. Thanks for the reviews and follows. They mean a lot to me. Feel free to post what you'd think would go good in this story.


End file.
